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Honor and Horror
After meeting up with several Autobots after Ultra Magnus was nearly killed by Megatron and helping to save the big white mech, Victoria went to visit her parents graves in Texas and having a most unexpected and rather unsettling encounter... with a Decepticon. ((May 5th 2023: Following the events of “When Shadows Fall”)) Characters Involved: Victoria Marcus played by Garnet Huntress Vortex played by Suburban Wolf '''(Chasm) '''Victoria Marcus A long engine would roar down the empty Texan road, a oxblood red Honda goldwing zipping down the road leading to the graveyard right outside of town, it was small, quite, the fog of the late night hanging like a sheet in the air as the bike cut through it. The rider wore a simple outfit, a black sleeveless shirt, baggy camo cargo pants and leather hiking boots. Long red hair whipped behind her in the wind as she grew nearer to her destination, the sounds of her radio and those of her motorcycle's engine the only sounds in the night. The redheaded woman sighed as she turned into the graveyard, it was family owned, the once part of property she kept in her name even after moving, generations of her family were buried on this small half acre of land, she stopped her bike and turned off the motor, it had been too long since she had been here, the memories were always hard to face. She opened up the saddlebag of her bike and pulled two long stemmed, white roses out, walking up to one of the graves with dual headstones, the names of Zachary and Jessica Marcus engraved on the white marble, she dropped to one knee as she reached out and placed the roses at the base of the headstones, a heavy sigh coming from her as she sat in silence. Vortex A dark grey, SH-2 Seasprite helicopter flew across the open land of Texas, its rotors thrumming loudly in the night air. The helicopter had no numeral markings, and the lights were not on. All in all, either a blatant disregard for aircraft rules and regulations, or something else. The empty cockpit would confirm the "something else." Controls moved of their own accord, and something unseen monitored the instrument readings. A sigh came from nowhere. "Bored...." A mechanical voice whined to no one in particular. "Why couldn't I have gotten an area known to have Autobots?" The helicopter was indeed bored. Since his landing, he'd had very few opportunities to perform his function. There was the incident with the intel bot, but that was about it. That was before he spotted the motorbike. "Hmm....Maybe I won't be as bored as I thought..." With that, he changed direction to where the motorbike had stopped, looking for a suitable landing spot. Victoria Marcus The redhead would look up as the sound of rotor beats filled the night, she'd stand from where she had knelt, she use to live near here, never did planes or helicopters fly in this area, due to it being a ranch area they weren't supposed to due to causing stampedes. She looked through the night sky to where the sound was coming from, the longer grass of the field near whipping about in the wind created, she watched as it hovered and looked for landing, {"Why the hell is their a chopper out here?"} she thought as she watched to see what they were going to do, not yet realizing the cockpit was empty. Vortex Finding a spot to land, Vortex descended, flaring his rotor blades when he got closer, whipping up the dirt and grass beneath him before touching down. Once his wheels made contact with the ground, his slowed down his engines, letting the rotor blades slow down and sag. His holoform flickered to life, a man in his 30s wearing a helicopter flight suit, helmet with a red-tinted visor, and a scarf around his neck, hiding his mouth. The holoform went through the motions of powering down most of the controls, then opened the door and hopped out, looking around. Victoria Marcus The redhead watched as the man exited the chopped, she stepped away from the graves so she had a clear view of him. She looked over the man a moment before looking at where he had landed, she hoped for his sake that was an emergency landing or there was going to be one pissed off wheat farmer in the morning, she looked back at the man, bringing up her hands though not sure it he'd understand sign language, it was worth a try 'You had to make an emergency landing? That's someone's wheat field you just tore up in a no fly zone.' she signed. Vortex Vortex ran a search through the internet for the meaning of the hand signals the human female was giving him, and found it. His holoform brought up his hands, as Vortex was unsure if the human was unable to hear, or simply unable to speak. "You could say that." He replied both out loud and in Sign Language. "I got separated from the rest of my wing group during an exercise, and I wanted to see if I could get my bearings from the ground." Victoria Marcus Victoria would give a small smile 'I can hear.' she signed before sighing 'Well, you're on the outskirts of Robert Lee, Texas, about five miles north of town, if that helps any, this is a no fly zone but it you were separated I couldn't expect you to know that.' She signed to him, though she couldn't help but wonder why he was keeping his mouth covered with the scarf, but to each their own. Vortex Inwardly, Vortex snorted at the human's comment. {"No fly zone. Hah! Humans and their laws. I'll fly where I want."} "That's good to know." His scanners watched her. There was something familiar about this human, and it was driving his already-insane processor into even deeper insanity. He never paid attention during briefings. They always had slide shows and stuff like that. He searched his database, looking for something. "You wouldn't happen to know how I could get back to Thomson Air Base?" Of course, if Vortex had paid more attention to human culture, he would know that his form being so far inland was an oddity. It was a helicopter for aircraft carriers, not land air bases. It would all depend on if his form was recognized. Victoria Marcus The redhead shook her head 'I am not aware of it's location, though I don't see any markings on your chopper, it doesn't look like anything I've seen around here before. If you want you could land closer to town, there's a few shops opened twenty four seven which have maps.' '''she signed before pausing, she tilted her head slightly, the scar at her neck visible sadly, she was so use to it being there she often forgot it. '''Vortex Vortex's rotors twitched as he felt an energy spike. {"Where? The human?"} His holoform looked at her, and saw the scar. {"Ahh.....There was a human female mentioned."} His holoform smirked, nearly invisible behind the scark. "By the way, I'm WO1 Alex Cobat. I don't believe I got your name, Miss..." A big rule on information: always follow-up and double check. Victoria Marcus Victoria would give a small half smile 'Victoria Marcus, nice to meet you I suppose.' she signed, glancing over at the chopper for a moment before her gaze settled back on the man 'Need any other assistance?' she signed, she wasn't too use to dealing with people, she had always been an outcast after all. Vortex {"Bingo."} Vortex's frame quivered with excitement, a shudder rippling through, starting at his nose and moving through to the end of his tail boom. The rotors twitched again, a little more visibly. "No, I think I've found everything I need." A flicker ran through the holoform image. Vortex was not used to keeping the holoform on for that long. The paneling on his form moved in and out, and writhing a few seconds the Seasprite had transformed into a large, grey mech, his face and optics hidden by a visor and mask. Victoria Marcus Victoria's attention was caught by the sounds of transformation, she took a step closer to her bike once more, the saddlebag on the Honda goldwing still open, she knew there were hostile bots and friendly ones, she didn't know for certain which this bot was but she wasn't going to stay far from her means of escape in case he turned out to be hostile. She knew exactly what she had in her bike's saddlebag, she always carried a long tow chain in there and a four way tire iron, so maybe it wasn't the best supplies but if she had to use it she would, she looked to the holoform, having caught it's flicker, she recalled what Anterra had asked her when she first met the Autobot 'Designation, directive, and programming set?' she signed remembering the statement once asked of her as she kept glancing from the holoform to the bot, something human sized she could handle, but his true form was what had her concerned. she tensed slightly, muscles taunt and ready to either jump on her bike or grab one of the possible makeshift weapons if the situation proved a danger to her, she was also well aware of the knife in her cleavage, but that would require her getting on the bot and going for a hose or line, the redhead had already begun to run scenarios through her mind, possible ways this could go down and how she could react, she only hoped this wasn't going to be a hostile encounter and that she wouldn't have to make use of what was going through her mind. Vortex Vortex giggled at the question. "Wouldn't you like to know?" The holoform flickered out completely, its purpose having been served. The copter-bot took a step towards Victoria, visor glinting dangerously. "Though, I'll offer you a trade. Let me have the All Spark shards in your throat, and I'll answer your question." He giggled again. "Though, if you won't let me, I'll still just take the shards. Can't guarantee you'll be alright afterwards, though." Victoria Marcus The redhead would watch as the bot came nearer, it was bigger that was for certain, though with what it just said, that was enough for her to assume hostility from the bot, she didn't even need to look for an insignia, his last statement told her all she needed to know of his intentions. She didn't outwardly show fear, she had no fear of death but if she was going to be ended it was going to be on her terms. 'It's not that simple. You see. . .' she signed though mid motion she move from signing to grabbing the tire iron that was in her motorcycle's saddle bag, wasting no time in throwing it like a metal four armed frisbee, aiming it at his visor hoping to catch him off guard with the sudden action, she just needed to buy a little time, slow an attacker so you've more time to flee, it was only logical though that was only if it hit home, she didn't wait and watch to see if it did, the moment the tire iron left her hand and went sailing she jumped on the bike and started it up, she wasn't about to waste time, she had to try to get out of there, she left the saddlebag open so if she needed to make use of the chain it was an easy grab. With that she hit the throttle and began her attempt to get the hell out of dodge. Vortex The tire iron caught Vortex partially by surprise, shattering one side of his visor, revealing a dark blue optic. "The fun way it is!" With a half-snarl, half-laugh, he transformed, rotors starting up as soon as they had clearance, lifting Vortex into the air as he finished transforming. With a cackle, he took off after Victoria, firing shots from his glue gun at her. "The more you run, the more I fire!" His firing came in an irregular pattern, as he was unable to keep himself steady from all the laughing he was doing. Victoria Marcus Vic would glance in her bike's side mirrors, swerving to the side to avoid one shot from the glue as she reached into the saddlebag, pulling out the tow chain she kept stored in there, it was for emergencies but not this kind, though it would have to do, she threw it over her shoulder so it was easy for her to access if she needed it. She opened throttle as she got on the road, speed quickly climbing as she swerved to avoid another glue blast, once her motorcycle reached 115 she smirked a bit, continuously glancing at the side view mirror so she could see him {"You want to catch me boy? Let's see how well you move."} she thought, thankfully she had refilled her motorcycle's NoS tanks before coming on this trip, she had two doses of NoS ready to go but she wasn't going to use them yet, not until she reached just the right speed, she wanted to make full use of the boost it would give her bike. Vortex The two sets of tri- barrel machine guns on the sides of Vortex's tail boom began rotating as the helicopter picked up speed, leveling himself out as his laughter subsided. "Keep running. We'll just keep hunting you down." Rounds from the machine guns soon joined the wads of glue flying at the bike as Vortex picked up more and more speed, inching closer. "Too bad. We could've found a way to keep you alive if you'd have just surrendered. Oh well. I never liked putting my science projects back together." Victoria Marcus Victoria saw the motion of the other weapons before hearing them start firing, she swerved to avoid another glue blast though she was not lucky enough to fully avoid the bullets, she felt one graze her upper right arm as she could literally hear another wiz by her head, a third nicked her side, the redhead gave a hiss of pain, had she a voice she would had growled as her jaw clenched as blood dribbled from the two deep gashes in her flesh {" Mother fucker, I do not like being shot."} she mentally cursed as she reached for the chain on her shoulder, trying to ignore the stinging pain in her arm as she glanced into the side view mirror {"Lady luck please be on my side."} she thought before slinging the chain from her shoulder upwards and behind her, towards the approaching chopper, she was aiming for the rotor up top, hoping she could get the chain to hit that and wrap up in the blades and gears, it was a long shot, she knew it but she was going to try. She felt another bullet bite across her forearm as she slung the chain, a gash down the side of it to the bone, she was damned lucky it didn't hit farther in but it was certainly enough to cause her to bite her lip from the pain, she pushed it back, she was no stranger to pain but she would certainly have to care for the wound soon. She brought her hand back to the handlebars, blood dripping from her forearm and being taken by the wind as she rode, her speed had increased, the speedometer now read 165 MPH, the was the time to use that boost she had, there was a town not far, if she could only make it there {"If I bring him through town others might get killed, no, no, I can't do that, passing by the outskirts is all I can do, maybe the noise will attract attention and maybe I'll get lucky."} she thought as she swerved another round on glue and bullet fire, another bullet bite into her thigh, that one wasn't just a wing, she felt that one embed and grimaced she tensed a bit as she heard her heart pounding in her chest, adrenaline was kicking in, her body reacting to the obvious danger. She decided it was time to stop waiting, her bike's speed had risen to 170 MPH. She moved to lower her posture a bit to cut wind resistance as she hit the first little silver button on her bike's handlebars, NoS surged through her bike's motor as the nitrous coursed through and the engine roared, the world around her appeared to blur as he speed rose drastically, 190, 200, 210, it finally settled at 220 MPH as she tried to flee, she could ride this speed for seven second without blowing her engine, if she got lucky, if he didn't get a direct shot, that boost should allow her to get to the outskirts of the town five miles from the graveyard, but it was all luck right now. Vortex Vortex was unable to see the chain coming at him. At least, until it made contact with his rotor mast. "GRAAAHHH!!!!" He let out a shriek. The chain didn't damage his blades, they'd been built to hold up against more than that, but it wrecked havoc upon the more delicate parts of the mast. Smoke poured from the damaged parts and circuits as his entire fuselage whipped around uncontrollably before slamming painfully into the ground. "Uuuhhhhnnnn....." Warning messages flashed in Vortex's vision, and on a display screen on his control panel. He was not going anywhere anytime soon. Victoria Marcus Victoria glanced at the side mirror, a smirk crossing her lips as she saw him go down, before she was too far she lifted a hand and gave him a one finger salute over her shoulder {"Eat dirt ya piecea crap"} she thought before bringing her hand back to the handlebars as she continued to ride out the boost, he was down, she could get into town and tend to those bullet wounds, though she knew one think, after this encounter she was going to be looking for one of the friendly ones, she knew their little insignia, that's what she was going to look for, she had to know why that chopper bot put bullets in her for what was in her throat, she wanted answers but first she had to get this bullet out of her leg, she could feel the pain in her thigh from it and from the other wingings she had endured, first order of business once she had gotten a decent distance was to tend to these injuries before she bled out too much. Vortex Vortex's frame twitched at the "salute," knowing full well its meaning. His vocal system had shut off, though. In retaliation to the pain and damage, all his systems were shutting down into temporary emergency stasis. He definitely wasn't going anywhere anytime soon. Doctors say that you can watch yourself pass out. That's exactly what Vortex was doing. He was watching his systems slowly shut down into stasis. Then as his optical system began to shut down, he watched himself slip into stasis as darkness closed in like a tunnel. Victoria Marcus Victoria rode out the speed boost, managing to, finally reaching the limits of the small town, it was so late so she knew the doctor's office in the small town would be closed. She pulled into a nearby, well lit parking lot and pulled a few shop rag she carried in her other saddlebag out to begin cleaning the wounds she could and making makeshift bandages, she tensed as she tried to more her right leg, the bullet in her thigh reminding her well of it's presence, she wouldn't be able to get that out on her own and she knew it. Once she patched herself up the best she could she before beginning to ride towards state limits, he attacked her here, the first thing she wanted to do was get out of the state and, hopefully, find one of the friendly ones to get some answers, she still had the bullet in her thigh but she wanted to be sure she got to safety before worrying about that, pain she could deal with, she did not want to have another run in with one of those hostile things in her current state. ((Continued in “Searching for Autobots and Answers”)) Category:Finished Threads